Noël Bridget Busch

An Integrative Feminist Model The Evolving Feminist Perspective on Intimate Partner Violence

The feminist perspective on intimate partner violence is a predominant model in the field, although not immune to criticism. In this research, frontline workers in the violence against women movement responded to critiques of the feminist model. The project used a focus group and a modified grounded theory analysis. Participants agreed with some criticisms, including an overreliance on a punitive criminal justice system, but reported skepticism toward proposed alternatives. Findings led to the development of the Integrative Feminist Model, which expands the feminist perspective in response to critiques, new research, and alternative theories while retaining a gendered analysis of violence.

Empowerment Practice: A Focus on Battered Women

During the past two decades, empowerment theory has gained popularity as a way to develop social policy reforms, programs, and practices related to oppressed and disenfranchised populations. This article applies the principles of empowerment practice to address the needs of battered women, and it discusses the implications for social work practice.

Male Customers of Prostituted Women Exploring Perceptions of Entitlement to Power and Control and Implications for Violent Behavior Toward Women

This study explores the underlyingstructure of the perceptions of 1,342 men arrested for tryingto hire a prostituted woman on the street. The analysis identified eight structural dimensions that accounted for 47% of the explained variance. Three factors contained items reflectingpatriarchal views of women and perceived entitlement to power and control, which are issues that could lead men to exhibit violence. Findings suggest that lower levels of education, conservative attitudes toward sexuality, more frequent pornography use, and traumatic life experiences may be related to entitlement to power and control factors, which in turn could be used to justify violence against women.

Battered Women Speak Out Welfare Reform and Their Decisions to Disclose

Recent attention has been given to the challenges and unintended negative consequences of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 on the economic well-being and safety of battered women and their children. This study focused on battered womens perceptions and experiences of disclosing their abuse histories to welfare-to-work case managers. The study found that women are prepared and expect to disclose, but various factors influence their ability to do so. In addition, battered women themselves have specific suggestions for improving the understanding and skills of case managers.

Pathways to Self-Sufficiency: Successful Entrepreneurship for Refugees

ABSTRACT This study examined the successes and challenges of refugee entrepreneurs by interviewing 50 refugees, service providers, and technical assistance providers. Qualitative data analyses revealed that successes and challenges occurred both at the individual and family levels as well as at the community and agency levels. The findings underscore the need to acknowledge the importance of the personal characteristics of the individual entrepreneurs, to deal with the competing factors revolved around family commitments, to encourage agencies to provide sufficient literacy and financial training, and to have community collaborations for capacity-building.

Balancing Power Through Community Building: Setting the Research Agenda on Violence Against Women

This article presents a feminist model for collaboration by researchers, practitioners, and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault that focuses on balancing power and building community. Thirty-eight university researchers, survivors, and practitioners met to define and prioritize a research agenda on domestic violence and sexual assault, plan for continued collaboration, and evaluate the community-building process. This article presents data from focus groups, written evaluations, and researcher-participant observations that indicated the research topics that the participants ranked as the most important or useful to them and outlines the participants’ concerns about and suggestions for ongoing collaboration.

Comparisons of Moral Reasoning Levels between Battered and Non-Battered Women

This study investigated the level of moral reasoning of battered and non-battered women. This article reports the findings from a comparison group of battered and non-battered women (N=92) on the Defining Issues Test. The study examined the relationships between a dependent variable—level of moral development—and two independent variables—history of domestic violence and relationship status (separated or joined). Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed no significant differences between the moral development of battered and non-battered women. Implications for social work education are discussed and strategies for infusing content on domestic violence are provided.

Book Review: Sexual Violence on Campus: Policies, Programs and Perspectives.Edited by Allen J. Ottens and Kathy Hotelling. New York: Springer Publishing Company, Inc., 2001, 305 pp. (hardcover)

Sexual Violence on Campus is a must read for every American college president, dean of students, and members of the faculty, counseling staff, and health services department. This text is a bold reminder of the prevalence and threat of sexual assault facing college students, mostly female. Ottens and Hotelling thoughtfully bring together a team of well respected, seasoned contributing authors who offer their experiences with and strategies for developing sexual assault prevention programs for university and college communities. Each of the 12 chapters addresses an important aspect of program development interconnected to the broader pursuit of rape prevention and intervention services. Specific content includes prevalence data and information about the scope of the problem, judiciary proceeding protocols, how to handle the media, and risk reduction programs for students. Several chapters detail services for victims such as counseling services, treatment modalities, and toxicology screening. Also included are chapters that address the unique counseling needs of cohabitating couples and gay, lesbian, and bisexual victims. This text is wonderfully free of victim-blaming statements so that the actions of sexual perpetrators are not explained through victims’ behaviors. It is perhaps one of only a few that calls needed attention to preventive work with organized groups of men, such as fraternities and male athletes, who are at high-risk for perpetration. While victim blaming is minimized, the authors offer valuable suggestions for educational programs that focus on self-efficacy and self-protection including a thorough description of circumstances in which sexual assaults may occur. One chapter examines drug-facilitated rapes and gives valuable information on the effect of “date-rape drugs.” The text also highlights important correlates such alcohol and other drug use as predictors of sexual violence. Hotelling writes, “ . . .we are reminded of the power of the culture, of the group, within which perpetrators operate, within which